Construction strike talks set to resume today

July 07, 2010

The two sides involved in a weeklong construction strike that has stalled hundreds of projects across the Chicago region plan to start negotiating Wednesday, just as concerns begin mounting over the lasting impacts of the labor stoppage.

On Tuesday, the deadlock surrounding health care packages and wages showed little signs of loosening, as the unions and the construction companies remained more than 10 percent apart on total compensation packages.

Representatives for both sides expressed cautious optimism that Wednesday's meeting could produce an agreement.

"We want something that allows the union members to get back to work and get projects back on track, but we're not going to give up what we've bargained for 30 years to achieve," said Ed Maher, spokesman for International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150, which is bargaining with construction companies alongside the Chicago Laborers' District Council.

At stake is the future of hundreds of road and building projects throughout Chicago, including a $95 million resurfacing of the Eisenhower Expressway and an $87.7 million high school renovation project in Naperville that has officials there worried the strike will leave their students without enough classroom space when school starts in August.

The pressure behind meeting the tight construction deadline at Naperville Central High School has district officials discussing an agreement with Local 150 that would enable work to resume if the strike is not settled. The district also said it is preparing for court action that would force non-striking workers to return immediately to their jobs.

If the gut rehabilitation job isn't done by the new school year, district officials warned, it could force them to squeeze Central High students into another high school, and possibly stretch school hours to 8:30 p.m.

"If push came to shove, and we had to put the kids at Naperville North, we could do that," Naperville Community Unit School District 203 Superintendent Mark Mitrovich said.

With each passing day of the strike, a built-in time cushion for scores of projects is slowly wearing thin.

In Des Plaines, city officials worried about what would happen to jobs and revenue if a new Des Plaines casino is not finished by its projected June 2011 completion date. In north suburban Libertyville, a project to repair cracked sidewalks also is in jeopardy.